Carl's in charge

[greasywheels121]

http://www.suntimes.com/output/sox/cst-spt-sox27.html

 

Carl's in charge: Outspoken Sox vet talks with us

BY DOUG PADILLA Staff Reporter

TUCSON, Ariz. -- If Carl Everett made a list of his 1,000 favorite things, the print media still would be nowhere near the list. The coverage of his past, in particular his blowups while playing for the Boston Red Sox in 2000 and 2001, still has Everett holding a grudge.

 

Three times Everett was suspended during his two years with the Red Sox, the largest being a 10-game stint on the bench for bumping umpire Ron Kulpa. There was also a much-publicized run-in with manager Joe Kerrigan. Everett says his side of the story never was accurately presented, and he continues to hold a dislike for the Boston media.

 

Finally in a more comfortable setting, Everett now is one of the most versatile players on the Sox' roster. He will open the season as the designated hitter in place of the injured Frank Thomas and then slip into the fourth outfielder role when Thomas returns. He is having one of the best springs on the team with a .333 average, four home runs and 16 RBI through Thursday.

 

Yet Everett still squeezed in time for a one-on-one interview with the Sun-Times. He again takes on the media, and not just sports journalists. He talks about Barry Bonds, bad coaches and waiting for an apology he knows he never will get.

 

You have said you have a mistrust of stupid writers. How many times have you been burned by a stupid writer?

 

Not so much burned because I'm not a guy who really talks a lot to the media. They go ahead and make up a lot of stories or they just go with what someone else says, whether it's the truth or not. That's how it's been.

 

What do you like best about this year's Sox team?

 

I think it's a team that wants to win. I think it's a team that it doesn't matter how the job gets done, as long as we win. I think it's a team that's not going to be selfish. I think we are going to look out for one another and play the game together because with what we have, we have to.

If you could change one thing in the game what would it be?

 

The way it's covered.

 

Is there anything in particular about the way it's covered?

 

Well, [media] access is too much, I think. I think when the media comes in, if they have a particular story, come in and get it because a lot of times guys want their freedom. A lot of time, guys don't do what they want to do because someone [a media member] is inside. My thing is access before the game is a little too much. But not so much of what's in the clubhouse. You have your networks who never come inside the clubhouse and they are giving everybody all this information that they have no idea about. So the way the game is covered is bad. They don't cover the game. They cover more personal stuff now and they wonder why issues like there are get out there. They don't cover baseball. I thin if you stick to what you're covering, everything will work well. You don't have to cover all that stuff.

 

So if there was a player doing something out of bounds, that shouldn't be mentioned?

 

Not so much that it shouldn't be mentioned. You don't throw everybody into something that one person has done. You can't say that this is going to taint baseball. No, that's that person. If that person is the one that did the act, that's who you talk to. Talk about that. But a lot of things that are personal, no, they should not be mentioned. But if it's something baseball-related and that person played that game, then yes, it's going to be mentioned.

 

What is the biggest misconception about you?

 

That I'm some angry guy. That I'm hard to get along with. And that all comes from the Peter Gammonses and stuff like that because I don't grant them interviews. He was a Boston guy and they believed everything that the manager said. They want to brand me through my whole career because I didn't like Boston. I didn't like the management in Boston, put it that way, and I let it be known.

 

Do you have any regrets from your past?

 

No. Like I say, the coverage of all that is wrong but they won't admit it. They ask me on their networks ... no, I'm not going to do anything until you apologize. I want you to apologize the same way that you said it. Of course, they aren't going to do that because if they did that, nobody would watch their networks because now we can't believe you.

 

You have had some phenomenal seasons. Can you ever put up MVP-type numbers again or is your game different now?

 

I never play for numbers. That's something I've never played for. I play to win. If it requires me to bunt a guy over or if it requires me to move a guy over, that's what I do. Those years that I had those numbers, it was great, but I still don't think they were my best years. I think '98 was my best year of all the years. Maybe the first year I came over here [2003]. I scored 93 runs and drove in 92, something like that. Just the way things unfolded, how I helped my team, that's what I look at. My numbers mean nothing if we don't win.

 

You often talk about Barry Bonds. Assuming you are a Barry Bonds fan, do you understand what he is going through right now?

 

My feeling is that everybody is out to get him. He made some comments about Babe Ruth which are true and a lot of people don't like it. He wants to silence the ghost. To me, the ghost has been silenced when Hank Aaron beat his record. They need to let Babe Ruth go. He saved the game a long time ago. In the present time, he's nonexistent. He's not the guy that's carrying the league. But Barry Bonds is the best player to ever play the game in my era -- I know that for a fact. I don't think, just in my opinion, the guys back then can do the things he's done. He's what, one of two guys to hit 500 home runs and steal 500 bases? And then play 15-plus years. That in itself, the longevity, things he's done -- regardless of who wants to throw their opinions out there -- the facts are that this is what is. Everything else is speculative. I like the style of game he plays. I like what he's created as far as nobody takes pitches better than him. Nobody walks more that him. It's like every time he takes a pitch it's the epitome of what ballplayers are trying to become. Every hitter wants to have that same eye, and when you get a pitch you swing and don't miss it. That's what's great about the things that Barry Bonds has done.

 

How many more years do you have left?

 

I really don't know. My son is coming up to high school now in four years and I'm thinking there is a possibility that I want to just go help him out because there is a lot of bad coaching out there. There is a lot of analyst coaching, people who watch ESPN and think they know the game. They are actually killing younger kids in that aspect because 'Oh, this is how you're supposed to do it.' I don't want that to happen to my kid. I've said four years and I'll reevaluate there.

 

One of the things I have read about you is your belief that dinosaurs don't exist because they aren't in the Bible. Is that a belief you still hold?

 

Yes. I'm always going to hold it.

 

Is there anything else that the world is possibly naive about?

 

The world will believe anything that is written [in the print media]. Nobody ever says 'Let me look into it myself.' If they pick up the newspapers, it's automatically fact. The Da Vinci Code, people read the Da Vinci Code and say 'Oh, that's fact. This guy knows what he's talking about.' Nobody ever researches. We're lazy. We're the laziest people out there. I would say Americans [holds up two fingers to make quotation marks], we're the laziest people out there. Our lives are covered wrong. Our history is covered wrong. We don't know our true history. Americans will never know their true history until they go out and research it. You're not going to be taught it in school, particularly black history. We get one month a year. History is history. It shouldn't be a black history month. History should be history. That's what I have a beef with, the way kids are taught. We're not taught to think for ourselves.

[thelatinoheat_30]

good points he makes in his last 2 answers. also good to see bonds being defended. everett knows how good that guy is.

[rangercal]

Carl has every right to believe in what he wants. f*** Dinosaurs. Maybe they didnt exist, who knows.

[aboz56]

As Hawk would say to DJ, I'm saying to Carl...

 

"I LUV when you analyze."

 

Good stuff from Carl here, I like him more all of the time.

[JUGGERNAUT]

Carl's a lot smarter than I thought. Weighing in on the Da Vinci Code like that. But I wish I could sit down with Carl on the dinos not being in the Bible thing. I would explain to him the theory of relativity & the basis as to why we should look at the 6 days of creation as God days & not man days because man doesn't exist at the start of creation. I would also ask him to do a search on the word "beast" in the Bible because he might be surprised by the references.

 

Still if Carl didn't hold that belief we wouldn't be able to call him Jurassic He's a colorful character & baseball needs more of them!

Edited March 27, 2005 by JUGGERNAUT

[3E8]

science > bible

[YASNY]

science > bible

 

 

Strong comeback, there.

[rangercal]

science > bible

um no

[BaseballNick]

science > bible

 

 

[Wong & Owens]

Carl, Carl, Carl.

 

 

Give us .290--25--80, and we'll forget about the dinosaur thing, OK?

[JUGGERNAUT]

science > bible

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Does it? Science in warfare has resulted in casualties & deaths many times the magnitude of those resulting from religious wars associated with Bible worship.

 

The American Civil War still represents the greatest loss of life in this nation's history.

It also represents the war to change the face of the planet. It was the advent of the modern warfare era where technological innovation was paramount to the war's outcome. It was fought under the belief that state sanctioned slavery is fundamentally wrong & violation of God given human rights. Inalienable rights.

[3E8]

Does it?  Science in warfare has resulted in casualties & deaths many times the magnitude of those resulting from religious wars associated with Bible worship. 

 

The American Civil War still represents the greatest loss of life in this nation's history.

It also represents the war to change the face of the planet.  It was the advent of the modern warfare era where technological innovation was paramount to the war's outcome.  It was fought under the belief that state sanctioned slavery is fundamentally wrong & violation of God given human rights.  Inalienable rights.

You raise an interesting point. I can't disagree that science has made warfare more volatile and dangerous, but that's not really what this is about. We should look to facts and reason when trying to explain life and evolution.

[Wong & Owens]

Does it?  Science in warfare has resulted in casualties & deaths many times the magnitude of those resulting from religious wars associated with Bible worship.

 

 

I highly doubt it. Especially when you throw in things like the Inquisition.

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

Carl's a lot smarter than I thought.  Weighing in on the Da Vinci Code like that. 

You're giving Carl credit for being a lot smarter then you thought when he denies the existence of dinosaurs and but mentions the Da Vinci Code ? I have no opinion on wether Carl is intelligent or not but to deny the existence of dinosaurs which is based in indisputable fact is asinine . As far as mentioning the Da Vinci code , I could bring up the theory of relativity but that doesnt mean I know a damn thing about it .

[Jabroni]

You're giving Carl credit for being a lot smarter then you thought when he denies the existence of dinosaurs and  but mentions the Da Vinci Code ? I have no opinion on wether Carl is intelligent or not but to deny the existence of dinosaurs which is based in indisputable fact is asinine . As far as mentioning the Da Vinci code , I could bring up the theory of relativity but that doesnt mean I know a damn thing about it .

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hey, the guy believes in the bible over scientific discoveries. What's wrong with that? Here's a few of my favorite Carl quotables...

 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/...rett_flashback/

Everett has trouble, too, with the idea of man actually walking on the moon. After first rejecting the notion, he concedes, "Yeah, that could have happened. It's possible. That is something you could prove. You can't prove dinosaurs ever existed. I feel it's far-fetched."

You might think, That butthole, before you meet me. I don't care. If I'm telling you something, I'm just telling you the truth.

--CARL .320

[CaliSoxFanViaSWside]

Hey, the guy believes in the bible over scientific discoveries.  What's wrong with that? Here's a few of my favorite Carl quotables...

 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/...rett_flashback/

 

Good article Jabroni. Thanks. Btw if Carl was driving a chariot instead of driving cars and flying in airplanes I might think he has no use for scientific discoveries.

[rangercal]

f*** science